Well after uncle Rob took a taxi to the airport, we also left Marsh Harbor. As we passed bakers bay, we had to head out into the ocean to cut around Whale Cay. We decided it was pleasant enough in the ocean to run as far north in the Abacos as we could on the ocean side rather than head back into the Sea of Abaco where we would have to make our way around shallow areas. This gave us an extra hour of time to stop at Moraine Cay and snorkel again. There were no storm clouds rolling in this time, but it was low tide when we arrived which made snorkeling over the coral a little more difficult. I couldn’t find the same spot as before with all the vibrant purple sea fans, but it was still a pretty reef area with lots of fish.
When we first dinghy’d over to the reef susie spotted a couple of fins sticking up out of the water. We tried to get closer to see, but it was very shallow and rocky, and then the fins disappeared. There were 2 fins and it looked like a shark to me. Needless to say no one was in a hurry to jump out of the dinghy at that moment. So we slowly moved around in the dinghy looking for a good spot to snorkel. We decided on a spot and into the water I went. Followed by Calvin, Savannah, Susie, and Benjamin on a floaty raft. We swam over the reef area for a few minutes when I looked up and around and about 100 feet away I saw the fins again. I called for david to come towards us as I had too many kids, including the snorkel raft with benjamin to pull around to have to worry about sharks too. We loaded the kids back in the dinghy and spent a few minutes watching the shark fins swim further away from us. The kids would point and shout “there they are” in random places. I didn’t see them again. Susie and I stayed in the water to snorkel a little more and david took the dinghy out towards where we had last seen the fins. He came back a few minutes later and decided what we were seeing was shallow reef poking up out of the water and not shark fins. From his reconnaisance trip he had found a nice reefy area and led us and the dinghy over to it. The kids braved the water again, well Isabel and Savannah did. David also jumped in after we found a sandy area to anchor the Dinghy. Susie stayed in the Dinghy with Benjamin and Calvin for a bit and then she and David traded spots so she could check out the area too. I kept checking all the cracks and crevices in the reef looking for a looming shark, but I saw none.
Today as we travelled I had some time to pull out our shark book and take a look, and while David is probably correct that what the kids kept pointing out was most likely parts of coral or sea fans poking out at low tide. But I have no doubt that what we saw when we approached the area and the 100 ft away after we first got in were in deed shark fins. I only saw one set of fins. It’s dorsal fin being distinct. So I am sure there was at least one shark swimming among us. I would like to see one when I am snorkeling, just so I can get the fear of it over with and have a good experience near one. 99.9 percent of the time sharks are harmless, we should not be so afraid of them. I am just not sure I want to have that experience with all my kids in the water too. Just in case.
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